Taipei, June 1 (CNA) France and Ukraine were highlighted in a press preview for the 30th edition of the Taipei International Book Exhibition held Wednesday, ahead of the official opening of the event the following day.
This year's book fair will show the diversity of the publishing sector in France, which has been chosen as the theme country, with an additional focus on how Ukraine has built national identity through culture and publications, said Deputy Culture Minister Lee Ching-hwi (李靜慧) during the press preview.
Meanwhile, Taiwan aims to showcase its vibrant publishing sector to readers at home and abroad, as well as the country's determination to connect with the world through the book fair held from June 2-7 at Exhibition Hall 1 of the Taipei World Trade Center, as well as online, Lee said.
About 80 publishers from France will show 2,000 books, while three special displays will be presented in the country's national pavilion, said David Kibler, head of culture, university cooperation and education of the French Bureau Français de Taiwan, during the press preview.
The three displays cover writer Marcel Proust, comic artist Emmanuel Lepage's original works, and manuscripts from other famous French authors, including George Sand, Victor-Marie Hugo, and Alexandre Dumas, organizers of the book exhibition said.
The display focusing on Proust is planned to mark the centennial of the writer's death, according to the organizers.
Valentina Butenko, an international market development executive at Yakaboo, an online bookstore in Ukraine, said at the press preview in Taipei that she hopes to share with people in Taiwan Ukrainians' fight for freedom, democracy and human rights through publications from the country.
Butenko said it is hard to believe she is in Taipei for the book fair, after having stayed with her family in a bunker in Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian invasion over the past few months.
She will give talks on June 3-4 during the book fair, which will have a dedicated space for books and illustrations by Ukrainian authors, said the Ministry of Culture, which co-organized the event, in a press statement Wednesday.
According to the ministry, the ticketed event will be free for visitors aged 18 and under if they show proof of their age, travelers from outside Taipei and New Taipei with train tickets for trips on the day of their visit, and foreign nationals who present their passport.
First held in 1987 as a biennial event, the Taipei International Book Exhibition became an annual fair in 1998, and this is the first time the exhibition is being held physically after two online-only editions due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020.
